SIGHTINGS



Justice Department
Admits It LIED With
False Testimony
Ex-CIA Agent Submits Evidence In His Appeal
 
By Deborah Tedford
c. 2000 Houston Chronicle
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a388632211cb3.htm
1-19-2000
 
 

 
Exerpt:
 
Defense attorney David Adler said the Justice Department's belated admission implicates seven attorneys in the plot to lie, withhold evidence or participate in the cover up. Three of them became federal judges, one was appointed an independent counsel and the three others now hold high positions in the department. _____
 
The Justice Department on Tuesday admitted that it used false testimony in the Houston trial of an ex-CIA agent in an effort to conceal the CIA's role in a plan to send weapons to Libya despite an arms embargo.
 
Edwin Wilson was convicted in 1983 of exporting explosives to Libya, partly on the basis of the affidavit of CIA executive director Charles Briggs -- then the third-highest ranking official in the agency.
 
Wilson had claimed that he shipped 20 tons of C-4 plastic explosives from Houston's Bush/Intercontinental Airport to Libya at the request of the CIA.
 
But in pleadings filed in U.S.District Judge Lynn Hughes' court, the Justice Department acknowledged prosecutor Ted Greenberg had introduced evidence about Wilson that he knew was false.
 
In an affidavit introduced into evidence by Greenburg, Briggs swore "Wilson was not asked or requested, directly or indirectly, to perform or provide any services, directly or indirectly, for the CIA," after he retired in 1971.
 
Wilson had maintained that the CIA had authorized all his activities in an intelligence-gathering effort. According to the documents, Wilson had some 80 contacts with the CIA from his retirement through 1978 and provided a variety of services at the government's request, including arranging gun sales to a Saudi Arabian security agency and the shipment of two desalinization units to Egypt on behalf of the CIA.
 
The new filing also shows Wilson was asked to advise the CIA on labor problems with the Glomar Explorer, a deep-sea submarine built to recover a sunken Russian submarine. But jurors -- after asking during deliberations that Briggs' affidavit be read to them -- rejected that defense and convicted Wilson.
 
He is currently serving a 17-year federal sentence. Hughes will decide if Wilson will be retried.
 
Defense attorney David Adler said the Justice Department's belated admission implicates seven attorneys in the plot to lie, withhold evidence or participate in the cover up. Three of them became federal judges, one was appointed an independent counsel and the three others now hold high positions in the department.
 
"They knowingly used false testimony. Briggs' affidavit said Wilson was not working for the CIA, but he was doing everything from giving advice to locating military hardware to recruiting," said Adler.
 
Adler said Greenberg ignored warnings by the CIA's top attorney, who advised against using the affidavit. And Justice and the CIA continued to discuss it in correspondence and memos even after it was submitted in court.
 
"This case is really outrageous," said Adler. "For one thing it's unusual because the government actually documented the efforts to conceal it."
 
Adler said government prosecutors frequently withhold evidence in criminal matters. "I wouldn't say it's the rule, but I wouldn't say it's an exception either," he said. The Department's revelation comes in the government's response to Wilson's Sept. 8 appeal of his conviction. Adler praised Hughes for compelling the Department to disclose the documents.
 
"Judge Hughes' willingness to follow the law is what gave Wilson the chance to have these documents see the light of day," Adler said. The Justice Department argues that Wilson failed to offer any evidence of CIA authorization specific to the charge against him, and therefore is not entitled to a new trial.
 
"A mere belief that he was acting in the interests of the United States did not constitute a legitimate defense," the motion reads.
 
http://www.FreeRepublic.com/forum/ Defense attorney David Adler said the Justice Department's belated admission implicates seven attorneys in the plot to lie, withhold evidence or participate in the cover up. Three of them became federal judges, one was appointed an independent counsel and the three others now hold high positions in the department.
 
And the Justice Dept. wonders why people don't trust them.


SIGHTINGS HOMEPAGE

This Site Served by TheHostPros